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>I just checked the archives for this type of disease and it does not
>look promising for answers.
>
>Can anyone give me any advice on what I should feed a ferret diagnosed
>with this disease?  Or anything else that I can do to improve his
>condition?
 
Dear X:
 
First things first.  You said that Dr. J biopsied the liver because it
did not look right, but he was in there for adrenal surgery at the time.
 
What if the liver isn't at the root of his problem - yes it looks bad,
but have you checked his blood values - are the liver values (especially
the bilirubin) elevated?
 
I see a fair number of livers that aren't pretty, but they seem to work.
The most common cause of liver changes is far and away heart disease -
the blood backs up into the liver if the heart isn't pumping well (what
we call right-sided congestive heart failure).  There are some other
causes (copper toxicosis has been identified in ferrets), but these are
pretty rare.
 
Now I don't think that the Denosyl will hurt, but there is no information
on how this will help a ferret.  It is one of those drugs which everyone
agrees should help, but we really don't know if or how it does.
 
But if you truly determine that his ill thrift is due to the liver, it's
certainly worth a try.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 4068]